A princess about to pop

Princess Madeleine of Sweden is about a month away from giving birth to her first baby.  In days gone by, royal mummies to be would usually retire from public view about now and go into confinement to prepare for the arrival of their little prince or princess (Madeleine's baby is a little girl).  But in the 21st century, everything is different and now this royal lady in waiting is still at work and posting photos of herself on her Facebook page as she contemplates a commute home in the snow of New York.  The Big Apple will be the birthplace of the fifth in line to the throne of Sweden next month.  In the meantime, it's the setting for this royal mum to be to show how regal maternity trends are changing.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and bump in New York

The Princess of New York

The news that Princess Madeleine of Sweden will have her baby in America means that the Swedish Royal Family may be able to lay claim to the first official princess of New York.  The youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia is due to have her baby in the city at the end of February and the child, believed to be a daughter, will be a Swedish princess with full dynastic rights.  And if Madeleine and her husband, Chris O'Neill, want to do the full old fashioned royal thing they could give their daughter the place of her birth as part of her title.  The fist Princess of New York.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden has confirmed that her baby, who will be fifth in line to the Swedish throne, is to be born in New York

In days gone by, royal babies were known by the place where they were born.  So King John of England began life as John of Oxford, the only son of Richard III was known as Edward of Middleham until his father became king and he became Prince of Wales for just a few months and one of the daughters of Edward I was named after her place of birth while her parents were on Crusade and went into the history books as Joan of Acre.  So if Madeleine does make her baby a princess of New York, she'll be giving an old tradition into a very modern twist.